This invention relates generally to audio devices and particularly, battery powered or hand-held audio players that can be carried by the user.
A variety of portable audio players are currently available including compact disc players and digital audio players. Generally these devices are battery powered and light weight so that they may be carried in the user""s hand or pocket. Commonly, the user may use headphones to listen to an audio output. Generally, the audio is in digital format, either on compact disc or stored in semiconductor memory.
Particularly with digital audio players, the sound quality may be relatively high. However, the opportunity for interactivity with the audio playback is relatively limited. Effectively, the user is relegated to simply listening to the audio while it is played back through headphones or otherwise.
In a variety of applications, interactivity may increase user enjoyment from electronic devices. For example, interactive television broadcasts enable users to participate with an ongoing television broadcast. It is believed that involving the users in the ongoing entertainment may enhance the experience of many entertainment forms to the user.
Thus, there is a need for a way to enable users to interact with personal audio devices.